Should I rent a car?

[leebee]

I'm going back and forth on this. DH and I arrive at MCO at 10:15pm on 12/21. We are staying at Hilton Buena Vista Palace at Disney Springs. We aren't doing a full Disney trip. We are planning on one day at Universal, one day at Epcot, one day at Kennedy Space Center, one day in Cocoa Beach visiting a friend, one day off to relax. We prefer to have one table service meal a day at resort hotels (Boma, Narcoosee's, Flying Fish, etc) or Disney Springs restaurants. With our schedule, we're looking at the following transportation needs/approximate cost:
Uber/lyft from MCO to hotel- one way, $42 with tip;
Uber to Universal- $45 round trip with tip;
Two-day car rental- Uber from hotel to MCO, on Christmas morning, pick up car and go to KSC, back to hotel, check out on the morning of the 26, off to Cocoa for overnight, then to MCO to return car and fly home; $180.
Parking at KSC- $25
Total is about $325 and we'd be relying on hotel/Disney transportation to get us to our meals, Epcot day, etc. If we were to Uber to Epcot, restaurants, etc., the price would go up about $20 per round trip (so potentially another $60 or so)

I have reserved a rental for the week for $365, and it'd be another $124 to park at the hotel for 5 nights. The parking is what is killing me; if it was just the cost of the rental vs Uber/rental/cabs, etc., I'd definitely rent a car for the week. However, there is the convenience factor. How busy are all these park and hotel buses going to be during the week leading into Christmas? How much time and hassle will it be to get from our hotel to Boma or Olivia's or Epcot? Is it worth $165 for the convenience of having a car? I know only I can make that decision for my family, but what do you think? Is it THAT inconvenient to use hotel/Disney transport to get around?

 

[disneysteve]

I will not do Disney without a car no matter where I'm staying. It's well worth the cost to not have to set foot on a Disney bus or stand in line for one or take round about routes to get where I"m going.

You're staying at Buena Vista Palace and want to get to Animal Kingdom Lodge. That means waiting for a bus to take you to a park or Disney Springs and then waiting for another bus to take you to AKL. That trip could take 90 minutes or more each way. Or you could hop in your car and be there in 10.

If the money isn't a big issue, get the car. I've never regretted being able to get around on my own schedule.

 

[Monykalyn]

First-yes it is worth it to us. I am actually doing a 2 day car rental this upcoming trip as we are running all over the first 2 days. I booked a rental car for 10 days this past june even though we spent 5 days on cruise ship, and had to pay to park at the port (flew into MCO-spent 4 days at Universal, drove to Miami and paid to park at port, flew home out of West Palm beach)-that's how much we value time/convenience so I am definitely biased LOL!
Second-keep checking for deals. How did you book the hotel? I haven't seen too many discounts or free parking specials Buena Vista palace but Double tree has them all the time (and waived resort fees) by booking through either the disneyspringshotels website, or when Mousesavers runs links.
Third-keep checking car rental rates. Not sure how much or if any drops will happen at Christmas time but doesn't hurt to check right?? Fingers crossed you find some savings!

 

[Troy821]

Go to autoslash.com. Plug in your info. See what deals come up. Look for the best deal that doesn’t require prepayment. Book it and then go back to the site a few times after that and do it over again. Hopefully it will get better.

 

[leebee]

Go to autoslash.com. Plug in your info. See what deals come up. Look for the best deal that doesn’t require prepayment. Book it and then go back to the site a few times after that and do it over again. Hopefully it will get better.

I've been stalking rentals through carrentalsavers.com. So far I've been able to shave about $10 off the total price, so I'm down to $365 for the week for a midsize SUV, which, believe it or not, is the cheapest price I've found for any vehicle at all. I don't HAVE to have an SUV... it's simply the cheapest I've found for the time period. I'll keep stalking and I'll try autoslash, too. Thanks for the info- I've never heard of them before.

Second-keep checking for deals. How did you book the hotel? I haven't seen too many discounts or free parking specials Buena Vista palace but Double tree has them all the time (and waived resort fees) by booking through either the disneyspringshotels website, or when Mousesavers runs links.

I haven't booked the hotel yet. I am looking at 2 reservations at the Buena Vista Palace: One is about $100 less than the second, but the second has free parking. All in all, it's a wash cost-wise, but the cheaper one is pre-pay. The free parking reservation is pay-when-stay, and I'd book it right now, but although the offer says it has free parking, when I click through to make the final reservation it says parking is $22 a day. I contacted the agency the offer is through, and hopefully they'll respond today so I can get this all finalized and actually do some work while at work, rather than stalk, read boards, and chat about my vacation!

 

[Cynt]

Yes! If you're not locked into a Disney Springs hotel try WBC or any other resort or condo w/o resort or parking fees.

 

[ParkHopperFan]

I also recommend the car. Disney is insane around Christmas. Last year MK was closed by 11am as they had reached max capacity. The convenience of having your own car is worth the price. Like another poster suggested.. consider a condo rental or some other non-corporate owned place to stay. What you will be saving on parking and nightly rentals will more than make up for the car rental cost. Plus you can save quite a bit by preparing breakfast and possibly lunch yourself. We always stay at Windsor Hills but there are a ton of options out there within a reasonable distance to the parks and attractions.

 

[LovesTimone]

Are you Hilton Honors members? I know that we have not had to pay for parking with us being Hilton Honors members, at Bonnet Creek and at Hilton on Hotel blvd...

I also would suggest a Homeaway, Vbro, Air B&B... rental... It more than likely will be alot less, plus no parking fees and resort fees... Christmas in and around the parks is crazy town...

 

[disneysteve]

Yes! If you're not locked into a Disney Springs hotel try WBC or any other resort or condo w/o resort or parking fees.

I would second this. We almost never stay onsite. We prefer renting a condo or townhouse in Windsor Palms. Less money, better accommodations, no parking fees, full kitchen, washer/dryer, etc.

 

[BostonEd]

$365 for the week for a midsize SUV,

Assuming you can cancel without penalty, book this car right now. That is actually an excellent price for that car at MCO for the week you're going. Book. It. Now. The price will only go up at this point. And if you decide you want to do all those other transport options, you can cancel. Book it now.

I would also recommend about checking Mousesavers for Disney Springs hotels with no parking fees.

 

[firefly_ris]

Heck yeah I'd rent the car. Having the convenience to just go when I'm ready, and not have to wait on buses, etc. is all positives to me.

 

[Monykalyn]

I've been stalking rentals through carrentalsavers.com. So far I've been able to shave about $10 off the total price, so I'm down to $365 for the week for a midsize SUV, which, believe it or not, is the cheapest price I've found for any vehicle at all. I don't HAVE to have an SUV... it's simply the cheapest I've found for the time period. I'll keep stalking and I'll try autoslash, too. Thanks for the info- I've never heard of them before.



I haven't booked the hotel yet. I am looking at 2 reservations at the Buena Vista Palace: One is about $100 less than the second, but the second has free parking. All in all, it's a wash cost-wise, but the cheaper one is pre-pay. The free parking reservation is pay-when-stay, and I'd book it right now, but although the offer says it has free parking, when I click through to make the final reservation it says parking is $22 a day. I contacted the agency the offer is through, and hopefully they'll respond today so I can get this all finalized and actually do some work while at work, rather than stalk, read boards, and chat about my vacation!

Ack and I just noticed that Dreams Unlimited is running an ad for the free parking at Buena Vista palace!! We are going in January but it says rates not available for my dates or I'd have booked it too!
Is that the agency? hopefully they can help!!

 

[disneysteve]

Heck yeah I'd rent the car. Having the convenience to just go when I'm ready, and not have to wait on buses, etc. is all positives to me.

I'm always surprised by how many people say they don't want to drive while at Disney. I'm totally the opposite. I don't want to be spending half my day waiting for buses and being crammed in with a few dozen other people and having a 15-minute drive take up to 2 hours by bus. I'd rather hop in and go on my schedule. Plus it lets us go wherever we want to go, including offsite. Even when we stay onsite, we don't literally stay onsite 24/7. We like to go to offsite shops and restaurants and attractions.

 

[leebee]

Assuming you can cancel without penalty, book this car right now. That is actually an excellent price for that car at MCO for the week you're going. Book. It. Now. The price will only go up at this point. And if you decide you want to do all those other transport options, you can cancel. Book it now.

Ack and I just noticed that Dreams Unlimited is running an ad for the free parking at Buena Vista palace!! We are going in January but it says rates not available for my dates or I'd have booked it too!
Is that the agency? hopefully they can help!!

Oh I booked that SUV when it was $375, before we were 100% sure we were even going! I keep checking back, saving a few bucks every time I can. I'll keep looking, right up until we leave. I've managed to score better rates on the morning of our departure, using last minute deals or somesuch listing.

Yes, Monykalyn, it's through DU for free parking at the BVPalace. I contacted them and the webmaster said that yes, even though Hilton shows a parking charge for the reservation (which is made through Hilton, not through Dreams) that is says "Dreams Unlimited Promo" and it'll go through as free parking once I'm there. I have printed out the email, just in case! I'm going to keep looking for DoubleTree deals (paying that resort fee is a killer!) but I'm good with this if it's what we end up with.

Now... where to eat? As someone reminded me, I have a CAR. I am not limited to Disney-owned restaurants! I totally didn't think of this... DUH!!!

 

[disneysteve]

Now... where to eat? As someone reminded me, I have a CAR. I am not limited to Disney-owned restaurants! I totally didn't think of this... DUH!!!

Exactly. Which makes the cost of the car an even better value because you can use it to lower your food bill. If you're staying by Disney Springs, just shooting over to Crossroads or one of the places along 535 right there you'll save a bundle.

 

[firefly_ris]

I'm always surprised by how many people say they don't want to drive while at Disney. I'm totally the opposite. I don't want to be spending half my day waiting for buses and being crammed in with a few dozen other people and having a 15-minute drive take up to 2 hours by bus. I'd rather hop in and go on my schedule. Plus it lets us go wherever we want to go, including offsite. Even when we stay onsite, we don't literally stay onsite 24/7. We like to go to offsite shops and restaurants and attractions.

Agreed.... our last 2 trips I had to do a ton of tight budgeting gymnastics to get us there, so I nixed the rental, but it's not my idea of a fun time. I had anxiety waiting at the non-queued bus stops at the moderate resorts because there's always some schmo that tries to jump in front of me, and I'm very non-confrontational, and then my husband IS confrontational and that gives me more anxiety, lol. Then when we DO get on the bus I'm trying to hold on to 3 small children because there's no seats.... I'm glad they offer the bus service but it's not what I'd consider a perk.

I'm hoping to make it back down in 2022 and the rental car will just be non-negotiable this time.

 

[kathy884]

With the longer trips and restaurants you are doing, if it were me I would do the car. Uber and Lyft, though, are really great in Orlando and are a good choice if you don't want to drive. When doing the math even with parking, for me the rental car is almost always cheaper.

On my next trip, though, it's just two nights before a cruise (trip from airport to condo, trip to MK and back to condo, and trip to Port Canaveral, and after the cruise trip from Port Canaveral to airport), I'm doing Uber even though a one way rental for the before portion of the trip would actually be a little cheaper. Here it's just because I don't feel like messing with the rental car, and costs aren't out of line for my uber trips.

 

[Mikey15]

I can't tell from the OP which days each activity is (other than KSC/Cocoa at the end) but I'd look into a "one-way" rental from Disney Springs, dropping off at the airport. Sometimes there can be deals because they want to reposition cars back to the airport. Could save the Uber back to MCO, and maybe make sense for the Universal day.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

The car is so worth the money especially because you are doing more than just Disney...
There is a avis on property if you just want a few days
we tried ended up getting a car anyways, we would order a car then the car service would cancel and tell us another car is on its way... it was a hasle.
There are free parking deals out there right now on mousesavers at your hotel...
https://www.mousesavers.com/hilton-orlando-lake-buena-vista-disney-springs-resort-area/Just look around